BruceVC

Comrade you sound upset? Do you want talk about it?

Its not really hate, more like friendly cultural and nation rivalry Hates too strong of a word IMO ?

We know Stalin was a racist, no mystery their?

I completed Fable Anniversary and it really was just a fun and thoroughly enjoyable 50 hours. You dont overthink anything and the game world entertains me with its characters and idiosyncratic personalities. And once on certain skill levels most combat becomes primarily fun and easy and a little mindless. But that is part of the enjoyable side of some controller based games ...I like repeating my combat strategy ...attack with time slow spell, use rolls and ducks in combat and use damage enhancement spells and then just go wild with swings and inflict mass carnage on enemies So it gets a solid 60/100 on the much respected " BruceVC gaming barometer " scoring system But that means I am at that exciting moment where I decide " what to play next ". I have to force myself this time to not play a fantasy RPG so that means I am going to trawl through my Steam and GOG for action, FPS, adventure or even RTS games to see what should be next. I may post my choices and ask people opinions

You make me laugh because this is something I have considered explaining on talk shows in SA. Sometimes we have some strange debates in SA around race and racial identity and these debates are not common say maybe 2-3 month on some talk shows or sometimes in a University on a specific public holiday and the topic could be something like " Were we sold a lie about our Democracy by Nelson Mandela " or " Unpacking the reasons for Whiteness" and in these debates they normally last about 1 hour or so and the panels would normally be people who I consider more activists than people who have studied history and economics and this generally includes panelists who are also white. So you generally accept that the topics and responses are sometimes not based on real historical context or actual data around something like economic inequality. But I try to watch them on TV because they interesting and you can learn new things, you just learn to ignore any uninformed or anti-white generalizations And sometimes someone brings up " how offensive it is to be called black" or sometimes even more rare " its offensive to be called black by a white person " and people insist they must be referred to as " African " and not black Now what always happens is 99 % of all people after these debates go back to the normal way of referring to each other as black and white because actually black people dont really mind calling themselves black as its just a collective term because in SA we have different black tribes and it would be impractical and basically impossible to know the actual correct name of the tribe or ethic group by just looking at the black persons appearance so people just never do it. So we understand their is no such thing as " black " as its just a way of making a point that is around all black people in SA...it is not suppose to be seen in anyway as offensive But in closing their is also no such thing as " white" either. We are different ethic groups as you mentioned but the reality even the Europeans would mostly refer to themselves as white in debates. So almost all my descendants can be traced to the UK, not all English as some come from Ireland and Wales, and France. But we all actually Anglo-Saxon by real ethnic group. Now imagine what would happen in SA, and most of our countries, in one of these debates where people are expressing " outrage " about white people calling " black people black " if you stood up as a white person and demanded that all people "stop referring to you as white person because it is equally cultural insensitive to be called white because you are Anglo-Saxon " It would create real bedlam and chaos because many white people I know dont know their ancestral tree, and its easy to find out if you want to, and are happy to refer themselves as white So I do agree that their is no such thing as white and we can argue this point and say I am Anglo-Saxon but the reality is its just a collective way of describing all white people in a normal way we debate and refer to ourselves so I would always encourage any white person to not get offended or think its something that we need to clarify because it just leads to more confusion or unnecessary invective when we all could be debating more substantive issues

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-wants-apology-u-biden-083815591-222819179.html Putin has asked Biden to a live debate due to Biden calling him a "killer " Its something that should not be entertained in any way because this is a good example of the contempt and disrespect Putin has for Biden and the Democrats. The Russians have realized and seen Bidens ....mental challengers and Putin is taking advantage of this. Its pure theater the request but obviously the debate would be real and end up embarrassing the USA and making Biden look much worse Putin is a very formidable debater when he is comfortable with his opponent so it would be a very unfair debate and not create the right impression when Putin " wins" So you just reject this invite in some diplomatic way as its not about a sincere debate

I have studied and introspectively looked at my own prejudices and biases for years, for me I can generally control the ones still prevalent. But what was easy for me was my core fundamental views on the rejection of common bigotries which are sexism, racism and homophobia. And what made it easier to address these things was raised by my mom and gran and we never experienced these things because my mom doesnt practice these things And in SA this for some white people, my age , their parents were bigots in some ways so they have had real examples of being exposed as racist or sexists and they have had to suffer the consequences. So in other words your parents behavior can inculcate certain views that you sometimes may not be aware of Nowadays I still sometimes create wrong impressions in RL because I frame things wrong or make someone think Im condescending and I try to learn to not do it again. But my problem is not being a bigot but rather been seen as " white, male, privlidege " ( I think this is the best way to explain it ) @ Rjshae I meant to ask you this earlier but what race are you? It makes no difference to how I enjoy your posts but I use to think you were African American but nowadays I think you white and because I engage with you I always like to know these things if you dont mind sharing But for me my agreement with peoples views is not about what race they are but rather the substance of what they say

Only you could post something like this Also I can only imagine how much people have bullied and been racist with you, how is racism in the Netherlands ?

You are so right and you revealed a real deep contradiction within the so called event. And the people who created this event arent racist and didnt think about what not being racist means because they assumed white people are inherently sort of racist So they think this event makes sense but the truth is a person who is not racist is never racist because its part of their value system and what would a week mean of people going around saying " I am not racist everyone ...look at me " Well spotted, you added a whole level of additional criticizing to this idea. Try to comment in future if you can on this type of discussion because you dont normally get involved and you have good instincts And now I am not going to escalate this to anyone because its too inconsistent to take seriously

Sorry, it was complicated And you right. I cant ask you to comment on something, like SA racism, you cant corroborate ...thanks for making me see that

If I understand you correctly you cant answer because I am asking you to agree to something that you cant legitimately answer because you cant comment about racism in SA and you cant just accept my view because then you would be assuming I am right but you cant say that as you dont live in SA ?

I hear you but I am sorry I didnt explain properly. I am raising this because its inaccurate suggestion of the degrees of racism, its like people just write anything they want irrespective of truth and I want to know if you think I have the moral agency to complain and expose it on talk shows ....I dont want to do it if I am overreacting ?

But I think these links are inaccurate, I wanting you guys to confirm that in the sense before I raise it within SA I think its suppose to only represent SA and if you read the link below. It basically suggests " white supremacy " exists in things like religion and education and that is nonsense and a lie. I am just annoyed that someone could write something like racism and link it to everything...and I want to complain but only if you think its warranted

Thats what I thought, its vastly reduced. I am glad you noticed it because I am going to mention your comment in a talk show. On this show the comments from a California Liberal really matter.... its seen as positive and most people are very anti-trump And then sometimes comments from an American liberal seem to matter more than someone who is a citizen from the South Africa and I can guarantee you we will have different views but I dont mind

https://www.dw.com/en/south-africas-anti-racism-week-a-drop-in-the-ocean/a-19120704 https://www.bernama.com/en/world/news.php?id=1941657 Hi Guys, do these links make sense to you? Then one paragraph says White Supremacy sits at the center of politics, economic and economics ....and do you think this is about SA or the USA ? I know these are reports are annoying but I am not sure it is true, for example I didnt know it was racism week this week and I dont believe the level of racism is this prevent. But this may be USA?

Nice one Please give me 350 €, the SA rand is very weak compared to the Euro and our economy is really suffering and you have no idea how expensive weed and strip clubs are in SA at the moment so its for a good reason Also you live in a first world country where your government gives you everything you want so if you honest with yourself you will come to the inexorable conclusion " do I really need that whole 700€?" What could you possibly spend it on that you dont already have ?

But are you sure the Demo cant be improved on around the criticisms you had ?

Dark arent you concerned with this " Vaccine hesitancy " that we see throughout the world ? Its quite big in the USA amongst minorities and the Trump support base. On CNN they were saying more than 40 % of Republican men wont take the vaccine Take a look at this graph in the link below to see who in the USA are worst offenders around this https://www.mediaite.com/politics/almost-half-of-republican-men-say-they-wont-get-the-coronavirus-vaccine/

I have mentioned this before but the Forgotten Realms (FR )is my favorite fantasy world of all time followed by the Elder Scrolls world Its because I use to be a DM for the pen and paper game and we played mostly in that world. I did love the Greyhawk AD&D world but it wasnt as established and not supported like the Forgotten Realms So I basically always buy games set in the Forgotten Realms so you can imagine my excitement about BG3

We still refer to them as that even though they basically redundant in commercial or business usage. I dont think I have seen one practically used in SA in 6-8 years? And we always use to refer to them as Stiffy Disks, not Stiffy because that does lead to jokes around sexual innuendo

Good choice Comrade, its a great game and has some excellent characters and the narrative is compelling. Their are also some nice Romance options, I liked Qara and Torio Claven but I wasnt able to Romance Qara and I didnt use to use Mods when I played it which some Mods apparently allow you to court Qara

Okay, thanks I will do some research and get back to you later. I do see your point and its relevant to the discussion because that 1991 referendum is important to our views on what Russia did and was it illegal or legal

Lets stay on point and focus on the actual debate This particular discussion is not about your view on the relevancy of global legal precedents and decisions , the reality of realpolitik or does the West care about the Crimean people This is about who does Crimea belong to based on historical decisions and outcomes and was the annexation of Crimea legal or illegal. And yes it does matter because its the basis for most of the Western sanctions that Russia is desperate to end. Its also important to me personally as I consider what Putin did as illegal and unacceptable so I support the sanctions. If the annexation of Crimea by Russia was lawful I would be opposed to sanctions and I would change my opinion like in any debate So lets try not to look at this in a personal and emotional way as this may cloud our views. So I will frame 2 simple questions that I would like you to directly respond to so I understand your view Do you agree Khrushchev transferred Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 Despite that and the legal precedent of what that meant their was the Crimean referendum based on the link below that yourself and Zora believe means that in fact Crimea should have been allowed to join Russia legally but its based on this referendum and its outcome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Crimean_sovereignty_referendum

Okay I am going to research this referendum and how legitimate it was and get back to you because this seems to be your primary reason for believing that Russia had a right to annex Crimea illegally Is that a fair assessment of your point ?

I am still playing Fable Anniversary, its a light hearted game and not a serious RPG but good fun and entertaining I am using a Controller as opposed to my normal choice of M\KB. Its interesting but I find it doesnt take me long to be become proficient with a Controller, normally a few hours. And using a Controller for certain games is just better like Sleeping Dogs and Fable Anyway after about 20 hours I got to the battle with Jack of Blades and I found it unreasonably hard and frustrating to defeat him. I tried for about 2 hours but kept getting killed by problems with movement and accessing potions So I found a good Mod on Nexus that enhances the Slow Time spell to literally freeze time for about 90 seconds in RL I used that Mod and was able to defeat him and then uninstalled that Mod because it would unbalance the game in further battles which I want to win without " cheating " But once again it never ceases to amaze how Mods can enhance and improve your gaming experience